Reign of Giants content and character balance

[piratekingflcl]

(Reign of Giants Spoilers ahead)

 

Wilson enjoys an interesting place as both the Don't Starve mascot and de-facto protagonist, and can be called a fairly balanced character. No significant drawbacks, evenly distributed stats, and the added perk of a Magnificent Beard.

 

Experienced Starvers will understand just how game-breaking a Beard as manly, and rugged as Wilson's can be is for an intrepid Gentleman Scientist. He is able to reliably produce both Beard hair and sanity using only time as a resource, as well as an added tier 3 layer of warmth in Winter.

 

The downsides of the character can only be seen after unlocking others, where it becomes apparent that everyone else came with a stacked deck compared to Wilson only bringing testosterone. Even then, many will still choose Wilson over the likes of Woodie or Willow, who have many strengths of their own, but whose stark drawbacks can be very demanding.

 

However, when the brutal Summer from Reign of Giants arrives to ruin many a day in Together, such a manly token of virility will gain new drawbacks that aren't currently present.

 

I wonder if that goes similarly for other characters as well?

 

WX-78, for instance, is often called overpowered if he can accumulate enough gears to achieve a maximum upgrade. But the onset of Spring will make the joints of many robots rust shut forever before they can even experience the hellish Summer.

 

Willow currently has a somewhat maligned attitude from the community, but as Summer arrives with its smoldering food, pigs, birds, ice, houses, forests, etc., her immunity gives the additional utility of putting fires out with no penalty.

 

Wickerbottom and her books can dominate a game given a responsible player, creating early tools for a team, flash farming huge amounts of supplies in no time at all, while eventually transitioning to a late-game caster type with her offensive spell-books. This all changes when Spring arrives, bringing increased plant growth and sanity drain for Wickerbottom to suffer through without rest.

 

Wolfgang has mostly been a walking stomach in Together, a food vacuum with nothing to smash his mighty fists against. The Ewecus and Varg additions have already provided an added layer of use for Wolfgang, letting him lead late-game hunts with relative fearlessness, and as the other three giants join Deerclops he will only become more important. Unfortunately he will suffer from the unending rain of Spring as his precious Jerky will be an unviable food source for the duration.

 

Wendy and Abigail are a somewhat interesting duo right now, with clear strengths and weaknesses as well as unique and varied gameplay. I think that Reign of Giants content will only be a buff to Wendy though, with the additions of frog rain, full moon light, and powerful weapons like the Morning Star and Old Bell. Giants continue to be her achilles heel though, and the new ones will do little to differ from the norm.

 

Maxwell, Woodie, and Wes have not arrived yet, so I can't say what sort of state the game will be in when the are finally playable. Catcoons remain the one animal that Wes can be said to have synergy with, Woodie laughs in the face of Poison Birchnuts, and Maxwell cares not for the sanity draining effects of rain; so they do have some upsides and advantages that can come from the addition of RoG content.

 

As we move closer and closer to an official release of Don't Starve Together, and an eventual parity with Reign of Giants, many characters are going to have flux of power. Significantly strong at certain times, while faltering under new threats. It is for this reason that I am content to wait patiently for the new changes to this great game.

 

I hope that Klei is thoughtful and meticulous with their additions, and that they have a keen sense of how characters will perform in each version (so that the player can still enjoy the game with their favorites)!